


You'll Be Safe

by Curious_Feline



Category: Harry Potter - J. K. Rowling
Genre: Alternate Universe - Canon Divergence, F/M, Harry doesn't stay an Auror, I'm not having it, Not Canon Compliant, Not Harry Potter and the Cursed Child Compliant, Number Twelve Grimmauld Place, Nymphadora Tonks Lives, Remus Lupin Lives
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2020-12-18
Updated: 2020-12-18
Packaged: 2021-03-11 01:15:14
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 1
Words: 3,048
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/28146693
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Curious_Feline/pseuds/Curious_Feline
Summary: What happens to 12 Grimmauld Place following the end of the Second Wizarding War? Also known as me exploring a few personal headcanons in a Post War canon divergence setting.
Relationships: Remus Lupin/Nymphadora Tonks
Kudos: 11





	You'll Be Safe

**Author's Note:**

> This is the world building fanfiction to set up how the story changed Post War for my canon world. The fanfiction I've published "Percy and the small Hunter" continues in the same world state

The years following the Battle of Hogwarts were tough for everyone it affected. Harry went off with Ron and Neville to join up with Aurors to clean up the wreckage following the War. Harry was told by multiple people that he didn’t need to continue, none of the children that were involved needed to risk themselves anymore, trying to catch any of the dark wizards that managed to flee. They were determined to try and keep fighting, afraid of what would happen if they stopped. The threat from the Second Wizarding War kept looming over their heads during their school years, it was hard to be a child. 

_Ron Weasley_ was the first to drop out of the career, he reached his limit feeling himself reaching a breaking point. Hermione pointed it out to all three of the boys, concerned that they were stretching themselves too thin. What helped Ron realize he needed a break was George. Following the loss of his twin, it took George a while before he was able to get up and move himself back to the shop. Ron offered to help him shortly after George brought up trying to reopen. He didn’t want Fred’s dream to die with him. It was Fred’s dream for the joke shop just as much as George’s. Together they both were able to bring life back to Weasley's Wizard Wheezes, bringing it back to it's glory days watching proudly as it filled to the brim with excited customers. Ron even dawned the tacky two piece suit, proudly displacing the bright orange and purple displaying around the shop.

_Neville Longbottom_ took a little while to reach a tipping point. He wanted to join the Aurors to help Harry and Ron, feeling like he wanted to make his parents proud to try and follow in their footsteps. He didn’t hate being an auror, but he realized he wouldn’t be able to do it as a career because he couldn’t put his heart into it. He knew he needed a break because he felt like he wasn’t making himself proud simply by doing it because he felt like he had too. He knew his parents would want him to do whatever he loved, and knew that this wasn’t what he wanted. He started looking into alternatives before he was presented the opportunity to further his education to get trained under Professor Sprout to be the next Herbology Teacher. It felt the first time he smiled genuinely since the War ended. 

_Harry Potter_ took the longest to leave the Aurors. He kept pushing himself, afraid to stop. He felt like it was simply because he didn’t know what would happen if he did. People kept telling him he has done enough, that he doesn’t need to keep going, or that he should just rest. Harry wasn’t sure he knew how to do that anymore. He’s lost so many people in his young life, that he feels like he has to keep going or else he has failed everyone that has died. There was always that voice that he heard in the back of his head that told him that they wouldn’t want him running himself ragged or constantly pushing himself to a breaking point; that he’s done enough. It took Harry the longest until close friends and people he considered family told him it was okay. They told him that he needed a break, he needed to rest, because the boy has done enough that he doesn’t have to do anything for the rest of his life. Harry finally quit the Aurors after he realized, finally, that he didn’t have to keep fighting. 

It was by the third year following the Battle of Hogwarts that Harry had created something he was proud of. He might not have kept fighting with the aurors but he kept fighting in other ways, and this was a way that made him insanely proud. By the third year following the Battle of Hogwarts, Harry had turned 12 Grimmauld Place into a safe haven. Here wizarding children that needed a place where they could feel safe and loved was waiting with open arms. They had children that needed a safe place to stay over holidays from Hogwarts, as well as muggleborn orphans or any children whose family didn’t appreciate their child’s newfound gifts. The most controversial thing about his new sanctuary was that Harry made it point to also take in werewolves. 

_Nymphadora Tonks_ stayed as an Auror following the Battle of Hogwarts, although far more carefully now that she had her son, Teddy. She stayed under Mad Moody, who to the shock of everyone in the Order managed to make it through the whole ordeal with only a few more scars to show for it. Tonks alongside her partner, Jamie, were tasked with training the three newest up and coming Auror recruits: Ron, Neville, and Harry. They both guided them, showing them the ropes, being excited to finally get to be in a mentor's footsteps. Tonks was one of the few people who got it into Harry's head that it was okay for him to quit being an Auror, that he's done enough for this world. She gave him the biggest hug, sweeping him off his feet and twirling him around when he thanked her on the day he resigned. The display actually got the boy to laugh by the time she put him down, and she ruffled his unruly hair before taking him by the shoulders to say how proud she was of him and how she'd definitely miss him as a protégée. She waved him off but not before shouting at him that he wasn't getting rid of his "Cool" Aunt Tonks that easily, reminding him of dinner that Friday. 

_Remus Lupin_ had survived the Second Wizarding War just as he had survived the First. He stayed behind with his wife and child when the Battle of Hogwarts raised hell over the school grounds. He felts his heart sink heavy with guilt after he heard what happened but didn't stop the selfish part of him that at least the people most important to him that he had made it through the Battle. He spent countless moments constantly telling Harry how proud he was of him, terrified to have almost lost him too and Harry cried so much that day, his eyes burned but felt the stinging all the same as he stayed holding onto him. Remus cried that day and he cried again and held Harry for what felt like hours after he was told about Grimmauld Place. Harry explained that it was to be made into a sanctuary for not only children who needed a home but a place for werewolves to go to get help. They would be given access to wolfsbane potion every month as well as directed towards a safe location for transformations. Harry may never know the pain the Remus had felt all the years living in isolation, being shunned from society but he wants to do everything in his power to ensure that no other werewolf is put through what his Uncle was. 

“Harry….” Remus choked out, still holding Harry in a crushing hug, “I...I’m so proud of you. You’ve given so much for this world, and you continue to give. Your parents would be so proud of you, you know that?”

Remus pulled back from the hug to look at Harry, tears staining his face. Harry took one sleeve up to his own eyes and rubbed it lazily to rid it of the tears he didn’t even know were starting to fall. He gave a sheepish smile and hugged Remus quickly. 

“I don’t want anyone to go through anything like we did.” Harry said, knowing the pain close to heart, knowing he can still brighten this world. “I know Hermione is trying all she can with her equality acts she keeps taking to the Ministry. Now that Shacklebolt is there we should be able to do loads better.”

Remus let out a soft chuckle, “I’m sure Sirius would be happy to hear that his childhood home is being used for something so important. Probably only because it would drive his Mother mad. The articles they would write....”

“It’s going to be fun trying to read through all the articles that will be written, I’m sure.” Harry grinned at the thought.

  
As the months passed, he spent countless hours renovating and altering Grimmauld Place. Even with Shacklebolt as Minister of Magic, Harry still had to deal with countless inspections. He knew there was only this type of restriction because he vocally mentioned his plans to be offering help to werewolves. He knew that even though Remus Lupin was a hero following the Second War, most people only saw him as an exception. He also knew how much work the team, led by Hermione Granger, was working trying to get more recognition and change for equality. What came as a shock to some was a certain person that took to helping Harry out with Grimmauld Place. Most of the Weasleys came by to visit and help where they could, Remus & Tonks with his godson Teddy dropped by when he couldn’t visit, and his friends even dropped in for assistance. The person that few expected was Percy. 

_Percy Weasley_ had spent most of his time following the Battle of Hogwarts with his family. George had rarely let him be alone the first few months. The night following the Battle, George had snuck into Percy’s room and slept with him. George then took to shadowing his older brother for those painful few first months. Percy never complained but felt stings of guilt because he felt like he didn’t deserve it. George was actually the one that had pushed Percy to take the job offer that Shaklebolt had offered him. When the Ministry was trying to rebuild itself, all the departments had a lot to go through to try and repair the mess that was left behind. Shaklebolt had brought Percy back in to try and offer him a job back working in the Ministry. Shacklebolt had mentioned that Percy was damn good at his job. He always was. Even through all the stress the Death Eaters put the entire Ministry through, Percy always did his job damn near perfectly. There was a reason the Death Eaters never got rid of him or tried to replace him. So after reviewing the clustered mess that was the Floo Network, Percy took the job. He may have only taken this particular job because he had thought of a few solutions, but he knew he needed to do something soon before he lost his mind, and with how chaotic this was he knew he would be distracted. Percy made a vow with himself though, he never missed a family dinner, work be damned.

Percy started showing up at Grimmauld Place a lot a few months after it was officially established. Harry was surprised that he seemed to enjoy spending time around all the kids and about how easily he handled them and even started to teach them. Then again, Harry was learning, especially after the Battle of Hogwarts, there was a lot he didn’t know about Percy. Percy had a given knack for children, it’s what made it easier to wrangle all of his younger siblings when Bill or Charlie were occupied or gone. It got harder and harder to do as the years went on but he prided himself on how he was able to do it before the youngest four got to school. Before everything got worse. Percy did find it amusing that both Harry and Ron found it shocking that he was able to handle the current 5 children in Grimmauld Place with ease. 

“Keep your face like that, it might get stuck.” Tonks grinned, sticking her head into the doorway, glancing over at them. The boys were standing in the sitting room that was adjacent to a playroom where Percy was. Ron had his eyebrow raised in confusion watching as Percy held up his arm, watching a toddler dangle from it like a handbag, the child giggling like mad. Harry had his arms crossed, a puzzled look painted his face as he was honestly fascinated by how easy Percy was making it look. 

“I’m just wondering where all…” Ron gestured with his hands towards Percy and the small hoard of children. “ **This** came from.”

“Well,” Tonks began, coming into the room standing next to Ron, “You have a lot of siblings. Plus I heard the stories of how he was a mother hen to the students when he was in school.”

Ron pondered the thought, recalling back to all the times Percy had dragged been overprotective ( _overbearing_ he more than often thought) during those first three years in school. He conceded and nodded, Harry giving a chuckle watching Percy starting to look a little helpless in the other room. Tonks let out barking laughter as one of the children started climbing onto Percy’s back while another tried dragging him in another direction, causing Percy to collapse on the ground resulting in a dogpile of giggling children. 

When Harry started taking in children that were younger than schooling age, he knew he’d need to start tutoring them so they’d have some basic education before they were sent off to Hogwarts. It was safer to home school them here at Grimmauld then it would’ve been to send them off to public school. Part of Harry didn’t hate the idea of being one of the rotating teachers for the children either. It was after watching how Percy interacted with the children that he approached him. He offered him the idea of coming over to help tutor the younger children to help prepare them for school. Percy was terribly confused as to why he would’ve been propositioned such a thing. 

“I mean you had top marks in school, didn’t you?” Harry asked completely casually.

“Well, yes I mean…” Percy said, taken aback. “I just don’t see why you’d be asking me?” Percy was raising his left eyebrow in confusion. This was one of the times Percy just came over, he claimed it was because he had some free time but what he didn’t say was that he had promised a few of the children that he would come back and read them a story he had told them about. 

  
“I mean I know you’re busy with work, Shacklebolt was telling about all the good you’ve been doing in the Department of Magical Transportation. I’ve just seen how good you’ve been handling the kids. I just figured you could try being one of the rotating tutors we’re going to have for the younger ones.” Harry explained.

Percy gave it some thought. He knew he didn’t have to worry as much about his job as he used to, having been made the Head of the Department. He had made tremendous work on the chaos that got left behind after the war. He enjoyed spending time with the children, something he personally never thought he would enjoy as much as he did. He knew he didn’t hate children, it wasn’t something on the table when you had as many siblings as he did. He was close with his mother and did tend to pick up her behavior, especially for wrangling his siblings. Percy also knew all the jokes that people made about him being a Prefect in school, always fussing over the younger students and “taking his job too seriously” as _certain_ students would claim. Percy considered the offer for only a few moments but his brain whipping through the thoughts felt like minutes ticking by. He accepted it, holding out a formal hand for Harry to take as a sign of agreement. Harry grinned and shook his hand, happy that he was on board. 

This set both boys up on a path for future careers that they may have considered but never knew they would have. Some short years following the establishment of 12 Grimmauld Place as a sanctuary, Harry was approached by now Headmistress McGonagall for the position of Defense Against the Dark Arts Professor. She had mentioned how he always had a knack for the subject when he was a student, and Harry remembered how much he enjoyed teaching Dumbledore’s Army all those years ago. He briefly thought about the career as an option back in his Fifth Year when Ron had brought it up as an option but it quickly got drowned out by the War. 

Percy took years after Harry became a Professor before he looked at that option. His children were a few years old before he announced one night at dinner. The words “I think I’d like to look into being Professor at Hogwarts” came out easier than he had expected. His spouse was fully supportive and encouraging even. No matter how long they’ve been together it still surprised him. Percy had given it careful consideration before he had landed on being the Potions Professor. It helped solidify his decision when Neville and Harry had mentioned that Slughorn was looking for an intern to mentor to replace him. Percy had recalled back to his youth in that he actually quite enjoyed Potions and counted it among on his favorite subjects. He also remembers that when he was younger he counted it as a personal victory that Severus Snape had begrudging respect for the boy, as he had managed near perfect marks in his class. Percy throughout the years was keen on making his own potions too, even offering to help where he could with the supply of Wolfsbane Potions for Harry’s sanctuary to be distributed out to safehouses. It seemed almost scarily natural once he started being mentored by Professor Slughorn and quickly picked up a rhythm that worked easily for him that flowed through the classroom. 

In the years that followed as the next generation filtered into Hogwarts, they had a few new teachers than the previous generation. They got to watch as the houses united, prejudices being abandoned, and Hogwarts and the Wizarding World continued on the path of greatness and strove to always get better year after year. 

**Author's Note:**

> This a small fic to showcase how my canon divergence headcanons changed the story around. I really adore this set up and if you have any questions don't hesitate to ask.


End file.
